"THE CURSE OF SIN"
I. IT WAS SIN THAT BROUGHT A CURSE ON THE WORLD.
A. As you look around the world today, you do not see the world that God created, nor that God intended.
1. You see a world that is suffering the consequences of Adam's sin.
2. God did not create all of the pollution, sinful man did.
3. God did not pollute the oceans, man did.
4. God did not destroy the rain forests, man did.
B. The curse of sin upon the earth effects everything on the earth.
1. It's effect upon the animal kingdom.
a. The animals became carnivorous.
1. We seen pictures of lions tearing the wildebeests.
2. We see the wolves killing and eating lambs.
b. I do not believe that they were carnivores before man's sin.
c. When Jesus comes again to set up the kingdom of God upon the earth we read that:
ISA 11:6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the baby goat; and the calf and the young lion and the fat cattle will lie down together, and a little child shall lead them.
ISA 11:7 And the cow and the bear shall feed together and their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
d. That, I believe is the way God created them and intended them to be.
2. Its effect upon the weather.
a. The weather patterns before the judgment of the flood were far different than that of today.
b. Before the flood, there were vast forests at the South pole, There were Mammoths and other forest animals eating tropical vegetation in the Artic north.
c. It is the great contrasts between the cold and hot air masses that create the hurricanes and typhoons.
d. These great contrasts did not exist before the flood when the earth was protected by a water canopy.
e. These disasters that are often called acts of God are actually the consequences of the curse that sin brought upon the earth.
3. It's effect upon mankind.
a. Physically.
1. Sin brought sickness and death.
2. I believe that all sickness, physical infirmities and handicaps have resulted because of the entrance of sin into the world.
3. I think that Adam and Eve were perfect physical specimens and had they not sinned, would be alive healthy, young and physically fit today.
4. We know that it was sin that brought death, God had warned them that in the day that they ate of the forbidden fruit they would surely die.
5. Paul tells us in Romans, "For by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin."
6. Jesus came to undo what Adam had done, Jesus said, "He who lives and believes in Me shall never die."
b. Sin has effected man spiritually.
1. Because of men being controlled by the lusts of their flesh we have wars, murders, rapes, and all sorts of crime.
2. James asked:
JAM 4:1 Where do wars and fights among you come from? Do they not come from your lusts that control your life? You lust for the things you do not have, you kill and desire more, you cannot be satisfied, you fight and you war, but actually gain nothing by it.
3. When Jesus sets up the Kingdom of God we read;
MIC 4:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, when the Lord shall establish His house that many people will say, "Let us go up to the house of the Lord that He might teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths." For out of Zion the law will go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nations shall not life up a sword against another nation, and they shall learn war no more. Every man will sit under his own vine and fig tree, and will not live in fear, this is the promise of the Lord of Hosts.
4. It's effect upon the earth itself.
a. Cursed will be the ground because of your sin.
b. In sorrow you will eat of it all the days of your life.
c. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth.
d. You shall eat the vegetables of the field.
e. In the sweat of your face you shall eat your bread.
f. This shall continue until your body returns to the dust, for you were made from the dust and will return to the dust.
II. GOD PRONOUNCED CURSES FOR A VARIETY OF SINS.
A. In so declaring that, I do not think that God necessarily said, "Because they have done that evil, I am going to curse them."
1. I think that there is in certain actions an inherent consequence of that action.
2. God has established certain laws that govern our universe. To violate those laws is to bring an inevitable consequence of pain and destruction.
3. This is true in the spiritual realm as well as in the physical realm.
a. For instance the law of gravity.
b. If you jump from a building and break some of your bones, you really can't blame God because you fell. That is the law of gravity, and to violate it brings certain inevitable consequences.
4. So it is with the spiritual laws. There is a certain cause and effect, and you cannot escape it.
a. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and began to die, it would not be right for Him to blame God because he was dying.
b. I believe that there were viruses or germs within the fruit that attacked the cells of the body that caused them to break down by mutation, and the ageing process began.
c. God had warned him not to eat it. That should have been sufficient. God does not have to explain why He should not eat of it, it was enough that said don't eat it.
III. BACK TO OUR TEXT, IF A MAN COMMITTED A SIN THAT REQUIRED HIS DEATH AND IF THEY CARRIED OUT THAT DEATH SENTENCE BY HANGING HIM ON A TREE. HE WAS TO BE TAKEN DOWN FROM THE TREE BEFORE SUNDOWN AND BURIED, FOR HE THAT IS HANGED ON A TREE IS CURSED OF GOD.
A. This is an interesting passage of scripture, for hanging a person on a tree has never been a normal method by which the Jews put a person to death.
1. There usual form of capital punishment was by stoning.
2. It was the Roman Empire that began the practice of crucifying people.
3. In the Old Testament we read of many being stoned to death, never once do we read of a person being crucified.
B. Paul wrote to the Galatians:
GAL 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that is hung on a tree:
1. All of the curses that were declared by God for the person who violated the different laws were borne by Christ for He became a curse for us.
2. We have all of us violated the laws of God. Some more, some less. Thus we were all under the curse of the law.
a. We have all sinned and come short of the glory of God.
b. There is none righteous, no not one.
3. But:
2CO 5:21 God has made him [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
a. He took our sins, and gave us His righteousness.
b. He took the curse of our sins, and granted to us the blessings of being righteous.
4. Isaiah tells us:
ISA 53:5 He [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. For all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
5. God cried: "For the transgression of my people was he stricken."
6. As we sang this morning, "When I survey the wondrous cross."
a. See our Lord hanging there? See the crown of thorns on His head? Do you know why there are thorns on the earth? They are the result of the curse, "Cursed be the ground, thorns and thistles shall if bring forth." He is bearing the curse of our sins.
b. See Him hanging on that tree? A man hung on a tree was cursed, for "Cursed is every man who is hung on a tree." I deserved to by hanging there, that would be justice.
c. His hanging there is mercy and grace. For He is taking my place.
7. When Paul said, "Christ has redeemed 'us' from the curse of the law," who is us?
a. The "us" is those who have come to put their faith in Jesus Christ and have been born again by the Spirit of God.
b. It could be you if you will choose to believe in Him.
8. If you have not put your trust in Jesus Christ, you are living under the curses of the law, and will die for your sin.
9. Those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ will never die, for Jesus said, "If you live and believe in Me, you will never die." "For to be absent from the body, is to be present with the Lord."
10. Moses said to the people:
DEU 30:19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you, today, I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your posterity may live:
Verse-Reference
Square — [Jhn 1:1 KJV]
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